Collapsible enclosure



Jan. 21, 1958 DAHL' 2,820,256

COLLAPSIBLE ENCLOSURE Filed Feb. 4, 1955 s Sheets-Sheet 1 JAMES R DAHL INVENTOR- wfx zf A TTORNE Y.

f 1958 J. P. DAHL COLLAPSIBLE ENCLOSURE Filed Feb. V4:, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 JAMES P. DAHL IN V EN TOR.

34 I ATTORNEY.

Jan. 21,19ss J- P. DAHL 2,820,256

COLLAPSIBLE ENCLOSURE Filed Feb. 4, 1955 s SheetS- -Sheet a JAMES f P. DAI- IL IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY. I

United States Patent C) COLLAPSIBLE ENCLOSURE James P. Dahl, Manhattan Beach, Calif.

Application February 4, 1955, Serial No. 486,048

2 Claims. (Cl. 20-2) This invention relates to a portable enclosure of a dimension to serve, for example, as a temporary privy, on a construction job or at a camping spot, or to serve as a portable dressing room for bathers.

The general problem to which the invention is directed is to provide a light-weight enclosure of this type of simple, rugged construction that may be readily erected and also may be readily collapsed into compact portable form for transportation from one site to another. The invention meets this problem by providing a structure having four side walls, each of which comprises two wall sections lying on opposite sides of a dividing line that extends transversely around the erected enclosure. The structure is foldable along the vertical lines of juncture of the four side walls and is also foldable along the transverse dividing line, thereby to' collapse into a single stack of the eight wall sections. Such a stack is light enough and of small enough dimension to be carried by a passenger automobile and, therefore, may serve for family use as well as for industrial use.

In the preferred practice of the invention the enclosure has a doorway on one of its four sides and a permanently hinged door for the doorway. This door is made in two sections lying on opposite sides of the transverse dividing line to permit the desired collapse of the structure intothe eight-layer stack.

It is highly desirable to have all eight of the wall sections interconnected to provide insurance against any section becoming separated and misplaced or lost. Such interconnection is also desirable to maintain the desired relationships among the various sections to prevent confusion that may be caused by one section being inadvertently moved out of its normal place in the eightsection assembly.

The preferred practice of the invention is characterized. by the fact that all of the eight sections are permanently connected together in such manner as to permit the sections either to be stacked for transportation or to be unfolded for erection of the enclosure.

- The various features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description considered with the accompanying drawings.

' In the drawings, which are to be regardedas merely illustrative:

Figure 1 is a perspective front view of the erected enclosure;

'Figure 2 is a perspective view of the enclosure in fiat state after the first folding step;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the structure after the second folding step;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the structure after the third or last folding step;

Figure 5 is a perspective view. from the rear of the erected enclosure;

Figure 6 is a plan view of the erected enclosure;

. Figure 7 is an enlarged detail showing a latch means:

' I to provide a web 55 of substantial width between the- 2,820,256 Patented Jan. 21, 1958 ice H for releasably interconnecting the two wall sections of the structure:

Figure 8 is a section taken as indicated by the line 8-8 of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is an enlarged portion of Figure 5 showing the construction of a rigid brace means that may be used to increase the rigidity of the erected structure;

Figure 10 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken as indicated by the 'line 10-10 of Figure 1;

Figure ll is a fragmentary perspective view showing how flexible straps may be used instead of rigid brace means to increase the rigidity of the erected structure;

Figure 12 is a perspective view similar to Figure 1 showing a second embodiment of the invention; and

Figure 13 is a fragmentary perspective view of another embodiment of the invention.

The first embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 1 to 10 comprises an upright box-like enclosure made of suitable material such as water proofed fibre-board or like panels, the enclosure being open at the top and bottom. The enclosure has four side walls, each of which comprises two wall sections lying on opposite sides of a dividing line that extends horizontally around the erected structure. Thus the front wall F comprises an upper wall section 20 and a lower wall section 22; the left side wall L comprises an upper wall section 24 and a lower wall section 25; the back wall B comprises an upper wall section 26 and a lower wall section 28; and the right side wall R comprises an upper wall section 30 and a lower wall section 32.

It is contemplated that the four side walls of the enclosure will be hingedly interconnected for folding movement relative to each other and any suitable hinge arrangement may be used for this purpose that will not interfere with the folding of the pairs of wall sections along the horizontal dividing line. In this first embodiment of the invention a hinge arrangement is employed that comprises strips of flexible sheet material such as heavy fabric. In the construction shown, the front wall F is connected with the left wall L by a flexible hinge strip 34; the left wall L is connected with the back wall B by a flexible hinge strip 35 which is partially severed by a transverse slit 36; the back wall B is connected to the right side wall R by two hinge strips, namely, a lower hinge strip 38 that interconnects the two wall sections 28 and 32 and separate upper hinge strip 40 that interconnects the two wall sections 26 and 30; and the right side wall R is connected to the front wall F by a hinge strip 42 which is partially severed by a slit 44 (Figures 3 and 4) which serves the same purpose as the previously mentioned slit 36.

In the construction shown in the drawings, the two wall sections 20 and 22 of the front wall F are cut away to form a doorway opening 45, as best shown in Figure 1, and a suitable door D is hingedly mounted on the structure to close this doorway. The door D is made in two sections 46 and 48 which are foldable relative to each other along the transverse dividing line. The door sections 46 and 48 may be considered as parts of the corresponding wall sections 20 and 22. While the door D may be hingedly mounted in any suitable manner, in this instance the previously mentioned hinge strip 34 is of suflicient width to serve this additional purpose, the hinge strip having slits 52 and 54 at the upper and lower edges, respectively, of the door as indicated in Figure 1.

All of the above mentioned hinge strips, except hinge strips 34 and 40, may be of the simple construction shown to serve as what may be termed single hinges. The hinge strip 40, however,'serves as what may be aptly termed a double hinge since the strip is relatively wide as aa a Web to P t, tsltl ns-ett e.e et estrem. t en -et y eel aa ed trea se. Q i a tr 9. he es tt e e t e position of Figure The web eetee-ls te s tte;- a "5.5 t hos i aeeestea ee s ut; ar et' .hw tli at eas, iEWW-QQQW; at whett l s slsta ease ttmsesz stetsett, a lt ie T be. e all. e tiq s teast-st. l estesr i e alls. of the; s t e ure are et taat'e elstue o a tr i hes lon the transverse dividing line, as, here of e stated, and for h s Wras e-ma WmE PQH-PQ hin e means of it e teele-e e hls' w et-ma e. tee. star y d ree ie eteaeee iees lef s erz tte etab y. e. we. ell ee iet t a L ast e -at. eteat. t lls ar hin ed- 1y interconnected; s' a atv l;east one such interconnecs i s. ec s ar tee tion across the. trianstgerse dividr al f he alL e. QrrstQheeg. directly nd rd resttuf Aa-herstetetaetetes ietereq r. m i h e es ttftt estteas t ahes e uni ar tra tttte h k eps a el ees ea tr at etaa. ra tte t y separ ed and. manages. east as n erstate ne t l e Ptera' eed b e. ss laeae eret steerreet P tieni a the t! re ati e.- tea ea t o her; in the procedure of erecting the enclosure.

n h esent tet t ed nta tiee a the are a th wo-watt eeetieae fiteatttl t n; e enneet s by t eR eY'Q s Y meRtiQ sd htaee tr s; 2- t tts'et. e.hiass. W? deer ses e: i wawall-eeet e s-ta t he le t id alk ete a eteseaeet smet nl y e. v ousl m ntiene nge. tt s t.ett :5, bu o y a ans erse.fl ai le-h neee tta .8;-

'twe eet ee Qt: e s lites; etea a aara aswa e o e d-ne be ntere tta sted dire tly, a n h e means hett t Thus the weltsee.;.e. s l n 3 f he tight jie 1. e e. 2st dit e l steresn: netted by h eL- eea ea l h we we lr estie s Z; and 28 ef e e e l eat-o: tate e test b an hinge et t.-.

I these ae e t vth eh. the f-YQ: elteeet ees eta Well of h n l s te ene di ee l hissed o e her. it s desirable t Prer e it ableett heteee ferre e s ably. e n ee t he We l e et ea n. ea h. anner to maintain them in 'co-planar alignment. as shown in Figure t u abl e et meea tele eabtr nnects the wall section 3.0 with the wal; section 3 2 and a second similar latch. means 6 0releasably cgnnects. the; wall section 26. with the, wallseotiqrr 2 8 As e h w u es Ha -1 eeh eteh; m an m t t e Pa r f tl lel hfi rtet oun e n the opposite nds a Pi t fis he .ieieutaa t ei the set f, h tweottell e t et s he e aeewel eei s a bore 5-- et tt sh. e-W iett smeeated suitable leev 6-t -i t t el herint... he-s eaze b n formed with suitablg end, flanges. 6 3. th the t o latch mit fisr t the. term Q the p Mb ina xedl .et reheel othet trically t er of el eet ee. he t o. di es t e ee v a el iaasa itteae eheatt a st tes 7 e d t it lt he. tisit r Qt ete ed t s e t-t e met be increased by the aglditiop ofi suitable. brace. means. Eor example, as best shown inF-igures. 5. and 9,. a single.

set t e. i e striated a e-si e rigid .diagonal ;.brace; member-.70; may be. provided for- 1s instance 4 t releasable engagement with the upper edges of two of the side wallsftlie brace member being shown in engagement with the front wall 13 and the left side wall L. The diagonal brace member is a metal bar formed with a pair of diagonal tongues 72 at each end, as shown.

The manner in which the described structure serves its purpose may be readily understood from the foregoing description. In the erectedjstate of the enclosure shown in Figures 1 fill- 1. hetwo ateh. means 60 interconnect the two sections of the right wall R and also of back l'iir. d; the. diagonaltbrace member: 70 interec s he ont l E an he e i e. all:

The first step in folding the erected structure for transportation from one. sitgtg; another. is to remove the diagonal brace member 70 and to fold the left wall L against the back wall B and the front wall F against the right side wall R thereby collapsing the closure to the fiat state shown in Figure 2. This fiat state may be doscribedras comprising. two interconnected stacks of twp .Qach fathe. four side walls.- of the enclosure The. next. step isto fold: the arrangement shown in- Figure 2 downward baclo on itself to form the a-rrange-. mentshown in..Figure; 3 which comprises two interconnectedstac-ks of-fourr each; of: the eight wall sections of theenc-losure. 'Ehe final .step is to fold the-arrangement shQWn-in Figure 3 on itself withzthe hinge strip 40 outerroost, thereby formingta st-aclrofteight of the wall sections; 'lfhetwmwall sectionszo a-nd=30iare at opposite ends ofthe stack and thesetwosections .are interoonnected by the web 5510f theidguble-hinge strip40. It:is:apparentthat-inthis fi-nal folded'state of"the.-structure the doublehinge'strip- E runifies the stack,sincevitcooperates with thewall'sections 26;an d= 30 :to-enclosethe remaining six wall sec tions lt is. to. be noted: that allof: thewall"sections ofj-he eight section. stack: areiinterconnected directly-and i irectly; in. a manner that tends-to keep each of'the wall sections-in place in-thestack.

To erect the enclosure from the eightsection stack' shownin Figuret4 thetstackis first unfolded tothestate shown in. Figure: 3 and: again. is unfolded' to th'e state shown-in- Eigure 2. The-structure shown in Figure 2' is then opened up to the stateshownin'Figure 1. The two latchesfitl arethemmanipulated into their respective latching positions and the diagonal brace member 70 is placed in its eifectiye position.

If desire d, fiexible brace meansmay be.employcdin-. stead; ofythe rigidpdiagonal brace. member 70 to preventinadvertent;collapsing.otyfolding ofthe wall. For-exam-. ple asshown in l- -igure- 11; apair. of flexible straps'74"; may dg d a t his purp ach s ap beingmedeot? leather, woven wehhing or- .thelik;e. The two straps 74 are positioned diagonally as shown with theoneendof? eehz ttsnteenaeetesiitot hei er ur ac w me- 1end-. 9; espeetiye rt st trit bI I v s'I i r mQvah y,- s d..-te. thet n etr ttr eeeso twa llsectionsz tand-: shuet e ttb et asteaers Figure Shows .-P .l9; aetm takhin e tm n b ubstituted o n s.-iet-tleai lef eetmat r a z or inte qttneet ns.' e eriei t aemher of.! he enc osur n; h construction shownjhetwo dgqr. sections 46- and;48';-a re etera m es edt y. hin e .1 e. e i-ng:-, hing dly mounted by an upper hinge 82 connecting the door-section; th.. .1te.,wa ee iQa Q- nd ailow rh n e1 e ing the door section 48 with the lower Wall section zlg, h l ..Wal ..E Q 1I .i$ to-ther g r itupper hinge 85 that interc nnectswa-ll sectionslt), and 30 ndsb letter. in fi ntha interconn t w l ections 22-and '32: In like manner the front.wal,l;R is connec.ted-,. to e e. ..e .e.Wa b eanpaerhin e88 n er onne ing wall'sections 20 and'24 and a lower hingeflthinter cotttlesttittg llfi etitut Zlaa tifiti he lefh idec allt is connected to the back wall B by an uppge lringe 92inter;- connecting wall sections 24 and 26, and a 1oWer,- hinge -,94 interconnecting wall sections 25: and 28; The-,right-side el R e t seetedter hev aek wetkB- ymi -low hinge (not shown) interconnecting wall sections 28 and 32 and by an upper hinge 95 interconnecting wall sections 26 and 30.

The upper hinge 95 is a double hinge corresponding in function to the previously described double hinge 40. Thus the upper hinge 95 has a central web 96 with two hinge pins or p-intles 100 at the opposite longitudinal edges thereof. The web 96 is of a width sufficient to permit the hinge 95 to replace the complete stack of wall sections in the final folded position of the enclosure.

Hinges 88 and 90, as in the earlier described embodiment of the invention, must be, in effect, double hinges to perm-it folding of the enclosure. These hinges are therefore like hinge strip 34 and are of a size suflicient to embrace the thickness of four wall sections when the enclosure is completely collapsed or folded.

It is apparent that the embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 12 may be erected from folded state in the manner heretofore described and, for transportation from one site to another, may be collapsed and folded into an eight-section stack. As heretofore described the two wall sections 26 and 30 will be at opposite ends of the stack with the hinge web 96 extending across the edges of the intervening six wall sections.

If desired, the enclosure may be formed with single hinge elements substituted for the hinges 38 and 90. Hinges 101 and 102 replace hinges 88 and 90 of the form of the invention shown in Figure 13 of the drawing. Hinges 101 and 102 are single hinges and the hinge pin 103 of each is removable to permit separation of the wall sections joined by the hinges. For this purpose, each hinge pin at the one end thereof is reversely bent back on itself to form an actuator 103 to be grasped by the fingers of the user in the operation of removing the pins from the hinges.

The removal of the hinge pins will separate the wall sections joined by the hinges 101 and 102, but this does not complicate the final folding operation as these pins can be removed just prior to the final folding step. The enclosure in the completely folded position is held in this position in exactly the same way as are the earlier described embodiments of the invention.

Although in all embodiments of the invention herein shown and described, the enclosure has been shown as comprising four upright wall elements but it should be understood an efiicient closure can be had where three or more than four side walls are used. The invention is therefore not to be limited solely to an enclosure having four upright side walls.

Although the now preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited thereto, for it is susceptible to changes in form and detail within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A collapsible enclosure of the type described having four upright side Walls, each comprising a pair of wall sections on opposite sides of a central dividing line extending transversely around the enclosure, said four side walls being foldable relative to each other along their vertical edges and said wall sections being foldable along said transverse dividing line to form a compact stack of eight wall sections, two adjacent sections of two adjacent side walls respectively being at opposite sides of the stack and being interconnected by a double hinge of a width to extend across the thickness of the six intermediate wall sections of the stack, the two wall sections of the pair of wall sections of each of said two adjacent side Walls being detached from each other, the remaining Wall sections of each of the other two side walls of the enclosure being interconnected by transverse hinge means, said other two side walls being hingedly interconnected by vertical hinge means. i a t 2. A collapsible enclosure of the type described having four upright side walls, each comprising a pair of wall sections on opposite sides of a central dividing line extending transversely around the enclosure, said four side walls being foldable relative to each other along their vertical edges and said wall sections being foldable along said transverse dividing line to form a compact stack of eight wall sections, two adjacent sections of two adjacent side walls respectively being at opposite sides of the stack and being interconnected by a double hinge of a Width to extend across the thickness of the six intermediate wall sections of the stack, the two wall sections of the pair of wall sections of each of said two adjacent side walls being detached from each other to enable the enclosure to be folded along said central dividing line; and first and second releasable means for interconnecting the pair of wall sections of each of said adjacent side walls when the enclosure is erected.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 682,621 Humphrey Sept. 17, 1901 1,746,595 King Feb. 11, 1930 2,607,972 Rust Aug. 26, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 231,783 Germany Mar. 2, 1911 

